New and improved....

I am talking about my eyes!

Yesterday, I had laser surgery done to correct my vision (both near and far). It is less than 24 hours after the procedure and I can see! Reading small script is still blurry but everything, otherwise, is all good. I have to put a million kinds of drops in my eyes and wear sunglasses when I am outside but that is totally reasonable... especially since one of the reasons that I got it done was so that I could wear sunglasses outside. I can now be on my computer again, watch TV, drive and do things around the house. By the end of the week, I can play soccer again (with eye protection) and not have to wear sunglasses, if I don't want to.

I will keep you up to date on the progression, if you were ever thinking of having laser surgery done.

PS: If you have any questions, feel free to ask! "See" you later... haha... couldn't resist ;)

Happy Saturday to you all xox

23 hours post procedure... I can see!

1 hour post procedure

Just before going in... wishing that I had taken them up on their offer of a valium ;) Bet you are jealous of my hat ;)

The night before...

From the bad comes the good ;)

Usually, the boys do their homework around the kitchen table. It starts off well enough- I can sit and give both Alexander and Nicklas my attention while they simultaneously work. Problem is that, after about 20 minutes, they spend more time bickering than actually getting anything done! I feel more like a ref or a moderator for the US presidential debates ;)
Today, after becoming totally FED UP with the arguing between the boys, I pushed the unsuspecting Andreas into the car and off to Ikea we went (he also got to buy a bag of godis/candies so he was happy to go).
End result of the morning "homework" session was a new desk for Nicklas (and eventually Oliver) in their room! I had Alexander clean up his desk downstairs and- voila- his own homework space! I am happy to walk between the 2 rooms and answer to calls for "MAMMA!" but peace has returned to the kitchen table... and a quiet cup of coffee for me ;)

Happy week to you all xox

The new desk in Nicklas' and Oliver's room!

I am thankful for....

Sometimes, I find that it is so easy to focus on the negative rather than the positive so, to keep my sanity, I regularly spend my morning walk to work thinking about what I am thankful for. There are the VERY obvious ones (like my sons and my husband... which will be covered in other posts) but there are also some things that become more obvious with reflection. One thing that I thought of today, on my walk to work, IS my walk to work! Every day, I get a just over an hour of walking in one of my most favourite cities in the world- Montreal. I get the chance to people watch, which I love to do. It is good, relaxing exercise and, in a time where time always seems rushed, I am glad to be able to incorporate it into my daily life. I get to window shop (no, Andreas, I am not going inside ;) ) and, on really good days, enjoy a good cup of coffee. It is a good way to prepare mentally for the day, or to unwind at the end of it. It is a bit of time with myself... or colleagues that take the train with me. It saves me stress in traffic, although crowds of tourists on Ste. Catherine are also pretty good at causing traffic jams ;)

Today, I am thankful for my daily walk, to and from work.... and more now because it is warm and there is NO snow on the ground ;)

Hope you enjoy day xox

Here are some pictures from this morning's walk.....

A moment of quiet

Last night, on my way to soccer, I got to appreciate a moment of quiet. I was able to enjoy the beautiful sunset. I enjoyed my iced coffee. I appreciated the warm evening air. I was able to take a deep breath. Sometimes, despite the craziness in my day to day, I have moments like this.... and I appreciate every second of them.

Ahhhhh......

Nicklas and his butterfly

As a part of a school project, Nicklas raised a butterfly from a caterpillar. He learned about the various stages of caterpillar to butterfly development and released it as the final part of the project. He named it "Micro" and was so proud to see him (Nicka was convinced that it was a boy) turn into a butterfly. The school has a butterfly garden, especially designed for the big "good bye".
At the end of the day, Nicka showed us where he set his butterfly free. He looked around for his buddy but he was long gone. We did, however, find one butterfly that seemed to like hanging around so we watched him sun his wings and fly away.

Au revoir, Micro! See you around :)

Fishing with boys

Nicka is an avid "fisherman". He just loves everything about fishing (yes, we make sure that the fish are in good condition and return them to the water). There is something about the act of fishing that just fascinates him. He loves it! While the other boys look at gamers on Youtube, Nicklas checks out fishing channels (ok... as well as checking out the gamers) ;)
This past weekend, while I was at soccer, Andreas took Nicka and Oliver to a local fishing hole. Nicka was in heaven.... Oliver said that there were too many rocks to trip over... ;)

In heaven.... Oliver was just tripping over rocks ;)

All photos by Andreas

Beautiful long weekend

Today is a holiday here and, seriously, the weather couldn't have been any nicer for the long weekend! We spent time in the garden, relaxing, playing soccer, enjoying a little time at home and hanging out with family and good friends. I even managed to run some errands, clean the house, fold/put away laundry, put away winter clothes, prepare for renovation plans (more to come) and get some more "hair" for our Lego Man (I feel SO productive)! Nice 'do, if I say so myself ;)

Happy Monday! Wishing you all a great start to the week xox

Here is to the curly look ;)

Happy Mothers' Day

My favourite all time gifts are the homemade ones... and this year, for Mothers' Day, I was spoiled. The amount of love, appreciation, effort and honest feelings that went into these gifts make them so special. I was given some beautiful works of art... and a summary of me that almost made me pee my pants laughing. It is a good thing that I am friends with Oliver's kindergarten teacher because, otherwise, she may be wondering what kind of mother he has... Hahaha!

Happy Mothers' Day to all who have children in their arms and children in their hearts... xox

According to this, I am 83 years old and drink wine every day... well, he is close on both fronts ;)

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I am one lucky mamma!

Local talent

Our neighbourhood is full of talent. Instead of watching Youtube, the local boy posse is creating it ;) I was lucky to see the "behind the scenes" action and managed to successfully dodge the camera, otherwise I would have been the scariest thing in the video ;)

Hope you enjoy! Have a great rest of the weekend xox

The eye doctor

Yups.... Nicka needs glasses.... I had to talk him out of the tortoise shell/pink and the bright red frames. I am happy that he likes bright colours but I gently told him that it might clash with next year's soccer jerseys. He was satisfied with that answer ;)

Alexander went out with his friends so I brought these 2 clowns along... Well, Nicka had to be there because it was his appointment ;)

No, they are not with me ;)

Nicka, trying on his new glasses <3

Bad Canadian mother (otherwise known as skating with boys)

I know, I know.... I have carried a heavy guilt over the past 2 years or so.... It breaks my heart. I should have my passport taken away from me. My citizenship should be revoked. I am a bad mother. I am a bad Canadian mother.... Why, you ask? I will be honest and confess: Oliver does not know how to skate. Alexander and Nicklas can.... but they have problems stopping.... AND their skates don't even fit!!!! Ugh!
OK... If you are Canadian, you will get this. If you come from almost every other country, you must think that I am a nutbar ;) The thing is that skating is a Canadian birthright. We come pretty close to being born with skates on. Heck, hockey is a religion which surpasses football/soccer (shocking for everyone else on the planet... this will be another post- I promise). I grew up at the local outdoor rink, where we spent every minute, every winter. We went when the ice was melting, when it was -20C, when it was snowing (with a shovel, of course) and whenever we had a spare minute. Unfortunately, those kind of rinks are not as common anymore. Now, the hockey players are desperately trying to get to the same ice. Now, many of the parks don't even have rinks anymore. Sad.
Anyway, getting back to the boys: Over Christmas, I decided to teach Oliver how to skate. I also vowed to get the other boys back on their skates again. I decided to buy them skates that fit and were ready to go. Problem was that, over the holidays, it went from +14C to 40cm of snow so my idea was in the toilet! Change of plans: I was going to get them skating this spring break. So, when I found out that our local arena had free family skate times this week, I made up my mind. We were going to do this!
We had fun.... Oliver can now stand up on his skates (which is 1000000000000000 times better than when we first got there), Nicklas can stop and Alexander can skate backwards (a little bit). We are going back on Thursday :)

Now for the spam!